Folding crib



(Hommel.) A

J. G. ABBOTT 8v S. R. ROBINSON.

` FOLDING CRIB.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN G. ABBOTT AND SAMUEL R. ROBINSON, OF ANTRIM, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

FOLDING CRIB.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 504,646, datedSeptember 5, 1893.

Application led October 8, 1892. Serial No. 443,171. (No model.)

.To aZZ whom t may concern.:

Be it known that we, JOHN G. ABBOTT and SAMUEL R. ROBINSON, of Antrim,county of Hillsborough, State of New Hampshire, have invented anImprovement in Folding Cribs, of which the following description, inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, likeletters on the drawings representing like parts.

Prior to this invention cribs for use of children have had head and footboards hinged centrally to be folded, and the bed bottom has been madein two parts separated longitudinally along the longitudinal center ofthe bed and hinged to each side rail, each half of the bottom beingcomposed of a quadrilateral frame covered by slats or otherwise andmaking a folding Slat-bottom, the inner long sides of each frame beingadjacent to each other along the center of the crib when unfolded,making an unyielding center to the bed.

Our invention has for its object to improve the construction of thisclass of crib to make it lighter in weight, easier for a child, and lessnoisy, and yielding throughout the surface of the bed.

In accordance with our invention we have made the bed bottom of two likelI-shaped frames, the shorter arms of tbe frame being rigidly braced bydiagonal braces extended from the one sidebar, thus leaving the centralpart of the bed open and unobstructed, and upon these II-shaped framesthe open faces or sides of which face each other we have extended fromshort arm to short arm wire cloth having strong selvage wires, and wehave connected the contiguous edges of the wire fabrics together, sothat the wire cloth makes a suspension surface for the mattress,yielding in all its parts.

Figure l, is a plan view of a crib embodying our invention 5 and Fig. 2,is an enlarged view of a portion of the wire bottom, showing one form ofdevice for connecting the adjacent selvage edges of the wire bottom.Fig. 3 is a perspective detail view of the supporting blocks carried bythe head and foot boards, to be described.

The corner posts a, d and b, b are connected by side rails A and B inusual manner, and the inner side of each corner post is recessedsubstantially opposite the lower edges of the sidev rails to form abearing for like journals c, c' and d, d at the opposite ends ot'longitudinally extended bottom bars C and I) having extensions or armsC', D', thus making two [shaped frames. The arms C', D', are fastenedrigidly to the side bars substantially at right angles thereto at ornear their ends and extend inwardly toward each other to the center lineof the crib when the latter is unfolded, as shown in Fig. l, said armsbeing held in position against transverse strains by diagonal braces 3,4, preferably mortised into both the arms and the side bars to givegreater strength and rigidity to the two-part bottom frame formedthereby.

The head board is formed in two parts h, h hinged or jointed to eachother at h2 and to the corner posts d', h', at g and g respectively, thehinges being so located that the two parts of the head board will foldinward and upon each other. In like manner, the parts f,f, of the footboard are hinged or jointed to each other at f2, and to the posts a, bat k, la, the parts of the foot board also folding inwardly and uponeach other.

As herein shown the bed bottom is composed of two sections of woven wirefabric E, E', having selvage edges 5, 6, shown as formed of severalstrands of wire interwoven to make the outermost edges of the fabric.Each section is stretched over one-half of the supporting frame, and issecured thereto at the ends by cleats fm, m', attached to the outeredges of the arms C', D respectively, the fabric being bent down andover the edges of the arms and between them and the superimposed cleats.

If desired, staples or other suitable fastenings s may be inserted inthe outer edges of the wire fabric to connect it to the diagonal braces,the outer longitudinal edges of the sections, however, being beyond theinner edges of the bottom bars, to thus support the bottom sections attheir ends only, giving greater spring thereto.

The inner adjacent edges of the bottom sections may be connected, ifdesired, when the crib is in use, and we have shown herein a convenientform of fastener, see Fig. 2, it consisting of a piece of stout wire 7bent at the ends in opposite directions to form an arm S and a hook 9,the part 7 being run through IOO several turns in the selvage of onesection, the hook 9 engaging a link or mesh of the other section, thearm 8 resting against the surface of the first section, keeping the part9 of the fasteners at substantially the same level or in proper positionto engage the other section of the bottom.

lVire have shown three fasteners in Fig. l, but we desire it to beunderstood that more may be used, or fastenings may be dispensed withaltogether, without departing from our invention. The outer edges of thearms C', D', when the crib is in use rest on suitable supports shown asnotched blocks o, o', see Figs. l and 3 fastened to the inner sides ofthe head and foot boards, one'block being secured'to each half thereofsaid blocks forming rests or stops for the inner ends and under sides ofthe arms C', D', and their attached cleats m and m thus supportingA theends of the bottom frame at their middle portions and also keepingthehead and foot boards fully extended, the arms'also bracing the crib tokeep the frame more in place.

In the folding cribs as commonly constructed the center of the bedbottom is Vhard and unyielding, owing tothe rigid inner sides of thefolding portions, and the rigid inner side is necessary in order topreserve the shapev and rigidity of the folding portion. By the use ofthe double L-shaped frames, however, we obviate the use of this rigidcentral por# tion, for the diagonal braces maintain the end arms rigidlyin place relative to the attached side rails, and the bed bottom issuspended from said end arms. The center of the bed bottom is thus :madeflexible instead of unyielding, and the bed is easy and yielding in allportions, a most useful and desirable result. Should the adjacent inneredges of the two bed bottom sections yield unequally the fasteners maybe used to connect them', though it will frequently happen that thesections-will yield so equally that when the mattress is in place nofastenings will be necessary.

When it is desired to fold the crib the section having the fastenings isfirst raised, to thus remove the fastenings from engagement with theadjacent edges of the sections E', and then section E is raised, bothsections being turned about its journals against the inner sides of theadjacent side rails. The head and foot boards are then turned in towardcach other by means of the hinges, as

described, the parts of said head and foot boards folding against eachother and the npturned bottom frames, so that all the moving parts ofthe crib are inclosed by the corner posts and side rails.

Our invention is not restricted to the use of any particular woven wirefabric, but the crib has a bottom flexible and yielding along its centerportions.

Having described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent,

l. A folding crib having rigid side rails, and hinged head and footboards, and supports secured to said head and foot boards, com-V binedwith a two-part bottom composed of E- shaped frames, each frame beingpivotally supported adjacent to one of the side rails, diagonal bracesfor the end arms of the frames, and an independent wire-fabricbottom-section suspended from the end arms of each frame, said armsresting on the supports when the crib is extended, substantially asdescribed.

2. A folding crib having rigid side-rails, and hinged head and footboards,'and supports secured to said head and foot boards, combined witha two-part bottom composed of E- shaped frames, each frame beingpivotally supported adjacent to one of the side rails, diagonal bracesfor the end arms of the frames, an independent wire-fabricbottom-section suspended from the end arms of each frame, said armsresting on the supports when the crib is extended, and detachablefasteners to connect the adjacent free longitudinal edges of saidsections, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN G. ABBOTT. SAMUEL R. ROBINSON.

lVitnesses:

Mrs. J. E. YENNEY, IDA M. DODGE.

